Biography
Elliott Carter "is one of America's most distinguished creative artists in any field," said Aaron Copland in nominating Mr. Carter for the Gold Medal of the National Institute of Arts and Letters for Eminence in Music in 1971.
Twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the first composer to receive the U.S. National Medal of Arts, one of only four composers ever awarded Germany's Ernst Von Siemens Music Prize, and recently made "Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" by the government of France, Elliott Carter is internationally recognized as a pre-eminent American voice in the classical music tradition.
Carter was the subject of recent documentaries by London Weekend Television and the Netherlands Broadcasting Corporation. He celebrated his 80th birthday on December 11, 1988 to the accompaniment of salutes from around the world, culminating in December with the U.S. premiere of his recently completed Oboe Concerto. Concurrently, Mr. Carter's complete vocal/chamber works, string quartets, Penthode (for chamber orchestra), and ballet The Minotaur were recorded.
Since then he has completed Three Occasions for Orchestra (1989); Violin Concerto (1990); Quintet for Piano and Winds (1991); a 45-minute Symphonia (1996); String Quartet No.5 (1995); Clarinet Concerto (1996); a song cycle for soprano and piano, Of Challenge and Love (1994) from five poems of John Hollander; Quintet for Piano and String Quartet (1997); and Luimen for mandolin, guitar, harp, vibraphone, trumpet and trombone (1997). His 90th birthday is being celebrated in London, Paris, Rome, Cologne, New York, Chicago and many other places.
His Collected Essays and Lectures, 1937-1995, edited by Jonathan Bernard is published by the University of Rochester Press (1996). David Schiff's Elliott Carter is being published by Faber & Faber, London.
Encouraged toward a musical career by his friend Charles Ives, Mr. Carter was first honored by the Pulitzer committee in 1960 for his daring string quartet compositions, and was thereafter hailed by Stravinsky for his Double Concerto (1961) and his Piano Concerto (1967), both of which Stravinsky dubbed "masterpieces." His second Pulitzer Prize came in 1973 for String Quartet #3. Mr. Carter's Concerto for Orchestra (1969) and Symphony of Three Orchestras (1977), introduced and recorded by Leonard Bernstein and Pierre Boulez, received universal acclaim.
Annual Updates
2007
Premieres
What Next?, an opera in one act, was introduced at the Tanglewood Festival in August 2006, with James Levine conducting. Levine also conducted mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung and the Met Chamber Ensemble in an October performance of the commissioned work In the Distances of Sleep. The Chicago (IL) Symphony introduced Soundings, for piano and orchestra, while the Boston Symphony premiered both Three Illusions and Horn Concerto. Pianist Peter Serkin presented the premiere of Intermittences.
Performances
Performances throughout the year included Mosaic, by harpist Ursula Holliger; Oboe Quartet, by Heinz Holliger and the Juilliard Quartet; and Variations, Holiday Overture, and Allegro Scorrevole by the New York (NY) Philharmonic.
Publications
Soundings,for full orchestra; Reflexions, for chamber or small orchestra; Intermittences, for piano; In Distances of Sleep, for mezzo-soprano and ensemble; all by Boosey & Hawkes.
Recordings
Music of Elliott Carter, Volume 6, includes the Violin Concerto and Four Lauds with soloist Rolf Schulte; Odense Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Justin Brown; Bridge 9177. Music of Elliott Carter, Volume 7, includes the Asko Concerto, Cello Concerto, Dialogues, and Boston Concerto; performers include the Asko Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, and BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Oliver Knussen; Nicolas Hodges is piano soloist in Dialogues, and Fred Sherry is the soloist in the Cello Concerto; Bridge 9184